March 26, 2004

 

Q. A member of my family attends a Latin Mass at a traditional Roman Catholic church. He says that the Mass of Pope St. Pius V is a doctrine of the faith that can never be changed, that the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI is illicit, and that the bread and wine offered do not become the Body and Blood of Christ. I have read the material he gave me and I find it vague and confusing. Can you answer some questions for me? – E.F.M., Florida

A. We can try. (1) How was it possible for Paul VI to approve a Mass that is illicit? It was not possible for Paul VI to approve an illicit rite of the Mass. He had the same authority to make changes in the Mass as his predecessor Pius V had four centuries earlier. (2) Is the Novus Ordo illicit? No, the Ordo approved by Paul VI is a lawful rite of the Catholic Church. (3) Is my relative wrong? Yes, he is wrong if he thinks that Jesus does not become truly present during the consecration at a Novus Ordo Mass. (4) Is it possible that the traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo are both licit? Yes, they are both licit rites of the Church, but the permission of the diocesan bishop must be obtained in order to celebrate licitly the Mass of Pius V.

Q. A friend in California sent me a news article that says the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is not in schism because of exceptions under canon 1382. Also, the article says that there have been changes in what the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei Commission said in 1988 and what it said in 2003. It seems that the latter statement contradicts the earlier one. So what’s what? Is the Ecclesia Dei statement of January 18, 2003 in error? – R.L.G., Utah

A. No, it’s not in error. What it does is to answer questions about attendance at Masses celebrated by priests of the SSPX. In his 1988 apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei, Pope John Paul II appealed “to all those who until now have been linked in various ways to the movement of Archbishop Lefebvre [i.e., the SSPX], that they may fulfill the grave duty of remaining united to the Vicar of Christ in the unity of the Catholic Church, and of ceasing their support in any way for that movement.” He said that “everyone should be aware that formal adherence to the schism is a grave offense against God and carries the penalty of excommunication decreed by the Church’s law.”

In his 2003 letter, Msgr. Camille Perl, secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, said that SSPX priests are validly ordained, but “are suspended from exercising their priestly functions. To the extent that they adhere to the schism of the late Archbishop Lefebvre, they are also excommunicated. Concretely, this means that the Masses offered by these priests are valid but illicit, i.e., contrary to the law of the Church.”
Regarding attendance at SSPX Masses, the Monsignor said that “in the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X,” but “we cannot recommend your attendance at such a Mass.” He said that “if your primary reason for attending were to manifest your desire to separate yourself from communion with the Roman Pontiff and those in communion with him, it would be a sin. If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin.”

In a statement issued on October 27, 1998, the Ecclesia Dei Commission explained why it doesn’t recommend attendance at SSPX Masses. It said “while it is true that participation in the Mass of the chapels of the Society of St. Pius X does not of itself constitute ‘formal adherence to the schism,’ such adherence can come about over a period of time as one slowly imbibes a schismatic mentality which separates itself from the teaching of the Supreme Pontiff and the entire Catholic Church.”

As for canon 1382, here is what it says: “A bishop who consecrates someone a bishop and the person who receives such a consecration from the bishop without a pontifical mandate incur an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Holy See.” That’s the whole canon, and there are no exceptions to it. Bernard Cardinal Gantin, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, cited this canon on July 1, 1988, when he decreed the excommunication of Archbishop Lefebvre for performing “a schismatical act by the episcopal consecration of four priests, without pontifical mandate and contrary to the will of the Supreme Pontiff.”

 

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